Copyright Boulder Daily Camera
By Jack Ambrose Vindication is addicting. People wait years to have that gloating I-told-you-so moment. The temptation to scream it from the rooftops can be overwhelming, and it’s doing more harm than good. When posts from former MAGA devotees surface expressing feelings of betrayal, fear and grief, often the comments are filled with frigid blame. “We told you this from the beginning.” “Serves you right for not listening in the first place.” “Have the day you voted for.” This, if we the people want a prayer of defeating this authoritarian regime, is exactly the wrong response. You’re allowed to be furious that our democracy is dying, and the Republican across the street is an easier target than those in office. But the Us vs. Them mentality is what fueled this fire, and compassion is the thing that can put it out. Who among us has not done regrettable things? Nobody has the power to change the past, but we can change the future together. A core tenet of improvisational theatre is the idea of “Yes, and.” Acknowledge, adapt, build. When ex-MAGA people share that they’ve lost their health care, their livelihood, or their security because of the Trump administration’s actions, resist any temptation to tell them that this is what they deserve. Yes, your rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are under attack, and you deserve better—as do we all. Yes, you feel betrayed, frightened, and angry, and so do I. Yes, we didn’t agree before (and maybe we never will), and it is possible to work together for a brighter tomorrow. Admitting that you were wrong or that you were tricked is terrifying. The dread of facing judgment from others, as well as the loss of your community, is not to be underestimated. It takes courage to speak up at all, and more so to separate oneself from an ideology that is fixated on the narrative of Us vs. Them. What happens when someone musters up the bravery to go against the current they’ve swum with for so long, only to be ripped to shreds by those they’re moving toward? The chasm between us grows wider, and those in the middle are left to fall. The problems facing our nation are so much bigger than political parties, and the wounds being inflicted by the administration run so much deeper than partisan loyalties. We cannot afford to spit in the hand reaching out for help, not when people are starving because their SNAP benefits were frozen while a wannabe king builds a gilded ballroom. We cannot afford to sacrifice our future for a moment of gloating, not when our neighbors lose their health care while our government gives $40 billion to bail out his friends in another country. You don’t have to like certain people to believe that they deserve better. You don’t have to agree with them to see them as human beings, entitled to the same security and Constitutional rights as yourself. You don’t have to share a core set of beliefs to see the casual brutality that we treat each other with, and to realize that such cruelty cannot be allowed to be normalized. Compassion is the only antidote to a world that feeds on nonchalant callousness. Smile at your neighbor the next time you happen to be outside together. Introduce yourself. Take that first hard, scary step and start building the community you want to belong to. And the next time you’re doomscrolling and come across a post from someone saying, “This isn’t what I wanted when I voted for you — I don’t agree with what’s happening to my family, my job, my life because of your laws — I used to believe in you but I don’t anymore — what you’re doing to the American people is sick and unconstitutional,” take a moment to let your emotions settle. Delete that vindictive comment you were about to post. Yes, our ideologies have been very different, and we may never see eye to eye. Yes, this administration is hurting everyone across the political spectrum, and let’s stand shoulder to shoulder to do something about it. Jack Ambrose lives in Broomfield.
